I enjoy
watching survival shows. I have young children - it feels relatable. When I was
watching one of these shows recently, I was struck by such a meaningful gospel
moment. I wanted to share it with you.
In the show Outlast*, the season was
coming to an end and there were two teams left surviving in the wilderness of
Alaska. Think freezing cold temperatures, surviving on clams and mushrooms and
occasional squirrels for weeks on end. Bear country, frost-bite, grueling work,
creating your own shelter, etc.
There was one man, Joey, who had
jumped to different teams throughout the show, never remaining faithful to one
group, and having this mindset of “I’m playing only for myself.” Even though in
order to win, you must remain a part of the team. Because of his sneakiness and
betrayal, he wasn’t one of my favorite characters.
The team he was on during this special
scene was called Delta. On Delta was another man, named Joseph (I know, similar
names). From the beginning, Joseph introduced himself as a “man of God,” and
throughout the show you see him standing out in many areas: clean language,
peaceful behavior, praying in front of and with his teammates. He made a stand
that he never wanted to destroy or manipulate another team in order to win.
As the season winds down and the prize
is in sight, Joey sneaks off to see if he can join the other team, Bravo. Bravo
says no, so Joey tries to sneak back to his original team. This “sneaking”
involves crossing a river in a boat and team Delta sees him making the return
voyage back to them.
As expected, many of his current
teammates are upset, feeling betrayed, not wanting to let him back in. Joey answers
some questions with lies and evades others. And this leads to a one-on-one
conversation with Joseph.
Joey is at a breaking point, feeling
guilty, but not wanting to lose. He still doesn’t care about the people on his
team. He just wants to get away with this betrayal. So Joseph goes to him and
begins asking him some pointed questions. Joey says, “I just want to get to the
finish line; I still don’t feel that I’ve betrayed.”
Quiet, calm Joseph takes it all in -
the obvious lies, the nervous behavior and says, “...whatever story he was
telling, I kind of didn’t even want to hear it ‘cause I know it’s not the whole
truth… And I just asked, God, give me a sign. Give me something. So I just
listened and I was being still.”
Now, let me jump in here and say that
I as the audience member thought that was it for Joey. Wise Joseph knows he’s
lying. They’re going to vote him out and rightly so! I was caught off guard by
what happened next.
Joseph continues aloud to Joey, “Man,
you got your wife and your kids. You know how good of an opportunity you have
right now?” In his interview he says, “I’m not gonna lie, I was sad and
disappointed, but being a man of God, I was trying not to judge and just give
him the benefit of the doubt. Even though
I don’t want to, I believe in forgiveness.”
A few minutes later he continues
talking with Joey, “One thing I won’t do is give up. On you, or all the people
back at camp… So, Joey, you’ve got it.” You see Joey standing in stunned
silence with tears in his eyes as he receives a hug from Joseph. Joey says,
“honestly I was expecting something completely different. Joseph comes down, he really kinda leans in and says exactly
what I needed to hear, and just asks me to stay…”
At that moment another teammate who
had been listening to that whole conversation, who had been angry and ready to
send Joey away, walks down and tells him he’s good, he’s staying, and also
offers him a hug. The ripple effect of that grace is seen immediately.
Joey states, “...There’s a bit of
shame, of going over and pitching myself and getting denied. And they just welcomed me back with open
arms.”
What a picture. The gospel in action.
It was such a notable moment because it was so counter-cultural. And that
counter-cultural welcome is what you and I have received. While I was sitting
there rooting for Joey to be sent home, truly I was sitting there with a
deceitful, sneaky heart of my own. One that without Christ is unrescuable. But
God doesn’t leave me there broken, lost and hopeless. No, He offers the
forgiveness that is not earned and the open arms that are full of grace,
welcoming me back with the gospel.
Pastor Kelly O’Rear mentioned this
quote from You’re Not Crazy in his message the other day, “The finished
work of Christ on the cross is not God’s way of saying to us, ‘You’re free to
go now’ but ‘you’re free to come now.’ He’s not sending us off, but inviting us
in.” May we know that undeserved but so-freely-given welcome in our own hearts,
so that we too can offer it to others without pride, or entitlement. May we
look for the opportunity to share that gospel love with someone in our own lives
even today.
-Sandy
Gromacki
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